(This caricature of John Bolton is by DonkeyHotey.)Former National Security Advisor John Bolton had refused to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. He had said he wanted to see if a court would make him testify.
He has now changed his mind. On Monday, he issued a statement saying, "If the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify". This is a game-changer.
Republicans in the Senate have been justifying their refusal to vote to remove Trump from office by saying they had heard no "first person" testimony. They claimed all the testimony so far had been from second-hand sources (and sources against Trump).
They cannot make this claim against Bolton. Bolton is an established conservative Republican who has worked in three Republican administrations. And he worked in Trump's administration in a position to know exactly what Trump did regarding Ukraine.
The question now is -- Will the Senate issue a subpoena for Bolton to testify?
Bolton's offer puts more pressure on Majority Leader McConnell, who has been adamant about not calling witnesses for the Senate trial of Trump. It puts McConnell (and Senate Republicans) between a rack and a hard place.
If they subpoena Bolton, he could give devastating testimony against Trump. If they don't, it would look like they had rigged to Senate trial to protect Trump. Either way, it could cost them seats in the 2020 Senate elections.
It will be interesting to see what choice they make.
